Tag: Orlando

A mother who lost her son in the Orlando Pulse massacre has spoken out ahead of the Presidential election. Christopher Leinonen died in the horrific attack in June, when a gunman opened fire in the Pulse gay club, killing 49 people and injuring 53. In a ad for the Human Rights Campaign, Christopher’s mother Christine Leinonen opened up about the tragedy. She wrote: “My son Christopher Leinonen was shot and killed at the Pulse nightclub along with his boyfriend Juan and 47 other people. “This is definitely...

Imran Yousuf put his own life in danger to save clubbers from Omar Mateen's rampage. They don’t come much braver than former U.S. soldier Imran Yousuf. On the night of the Orlando Massacre in June, up to 70 lives were saved from terrorist Omar Mateen – and each of those survivors have Imran’s quick-thinking to thank. In an interview with The Advocate, Imran, who was working on the club’s door the night Omar Mateen claimed 53 lives. According to the Advocate,...

Survivors of the Orlando shooting have shared an emotional thank you to supporters. The assault, which took place at LGBT nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida on 12 June, has been described as the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, leaving 49 people dead and another 53 injured. Shortly after the incident, a fundraiser was set up via GoFundMe to allow people to donate money to help victims and their families with medical bills and funeral costs among other things – it raised over $9.5 million. Ricardo Negron, a...

Omar Mateen’s first wife, Sitora Yusufiy, has spoken about her relationship with the gunman behind the Orlando massacre. In an interview with Crime Watch Daily, Yusufiy revealed that she believed gunman Omar Mateen was gay and his attack on the Pulse nightclub was carried out to impress his father. Yusufiy believes her ex-husband was gay and tormented by his openly homophobic father, which led to his violent tendencies. Yusufiy makes her assumptions on Mateen’s sexuality based on the fact that “he was...

A US pastor who celebrated the Orlando massacre will be deported from Botswana, the country’s government has confirmed. Pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Phoenix is one of America’s most homophobic pastors. In a previous sermon he directly called for the execution of gay people by stoning, claiming: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon...

Pulse survivor Chris Brodman, 34, has died, just three months after the mass shooting in Orlando, News 6 reports. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed his death on Tuesday. Friends had been posting about his death since as early as Sunday. Authorities say they responded to reports of an unconscious man at a private home in the Tampa area at about 1:50 a.m. Sunday morning. The cause and manner of death are still under investigation. They added that his body showed...

A tearful Katy Perry surprised a survivor of the Pulse Orlando shooting live on Ellen. Fighting against her emotions as she arrives, Katy hugs Pulse Orlando nightclub shooting survivor Tony Marrero during his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show — a meeting Katy reveals left her shaking beforehand. After the shock of the star arrving, Tony explained how Katy’s lyrics in her song Rise helped him recover after receiving four gunshot wounds during the attack earlier this year. He explained: “The lyrics to that...

Sia has released a surprise video tribute to the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in modern US history. Sia’s distinctive solo dancer Maddie Ziegler was joined by 49 other young dancers in the new video to commemorate the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in June. Matt Moseley, one of the dancers featured in the video, confirmed the video to new song The Greatest, was indeed about the tragic attack on his Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKAI8VABWlS/ The video begins with the...

You may remember a post from earlier this year involving certifiable creepcake Craig Jungwirth, the Beach Bear Weekend organizer who took it upon himself to tell The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to “man up.” It soon became clear he was using the event primarily to scam money out of unsuspecting members of the gay community. In case anyone needed further evidence that he’s crazy and otherwise inadvisable, Jungwirth is now threatening Peacock Panache, the publication that first broke the news about his profound unseemliness. According to...

A Georgia pastor who generated a firestorm of controversy after he tweeted that “homosexuals got what they deserved” after the deadly massacre at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, has been arrested on charges of child molestation and aggravated child molestation. Shortly after the Pulse attack, Adkins tweeted, “been through so much with these Jacksonville homosexuals that I don’t see none of them as victims. I see them as getting what they deserve.” Adkins, 56, later walked back his comments, saying he wasn’t referring...

The former president paid a surprise visit to the memorial Wednesday afternoon.  Former president Bill Clinton visited the Pulse memorial in Orlando Wednesday. Clinton's appearance was not made public until Thursday, when the former president's press secretary, Angel Urena, confirmed his visit. https://twitter.com/angelurena/status/768517678273290240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw The 42nd president was at the memorial for around ten minutes, where he spoke with several people at the memorial, reported the Orlando Sentinel. "I was just driving by to be honest," John McClain of Orlando told the paper. "I saw...

Orlando Health and Florida Hospital will not bill survivors of the Pulse nightclub massacre for out-of-pocket medical expenses, officials announced Wednesday. Instead, the hospitals will write off an estimated $5.5 million or more in care. "The pulse shooting was a horrendous tragedy for the victims, their families and our entire community," Orlando Health President and CEO David Strong said. "During this very trying time, many organizations, individuals and charities have reached out to Orlando Health to show their support. This is...

A survivor of the Orlando shooting has taken his first unassisted steps since the tragedy. Earlier this month, we saw Zumba instructor Angel Colon return to the stage for the first time since he was injured in the shooting to deliver a moving speech alongside the officer who saved his life – he even danced in his chair. Now, in video footage posted to his Facebook page, the survivor has shown he’s firmly on the road to recovery after taking his first steps...

It has been two months since a lone gunman opened fire on Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, killing 49 and injuring 53 others. For Christine Leinonen, whose only son was killed that night, her life will never be the same. Leinonen sat on her couch with a stack of old photographs of her son on her lap when ABC news recently visited her. “He was one of the good ones,” she said. “You would have loved him as your neighbor, as your son, as...